Right step to combat Convid-19

Given the current global outbreak of the Coronavirus disease, otherwise known as COVID-19, and its threat to health and economic related issues in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari is, indeed, right to establish a Presidential Task Force for the control of the disease.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, heads the task force and Dr Sani Aliyu would serve as the National Coordinator in the fight against the disease. Other members of the task force are Minister of Health, Minister of Interior, Minister of Aviation, Minister of Education and Minister of Environment.

Others include Minister of Information and Culture, Director-General of State Security Service, WHO Country Representative, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Services; and the Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

Speaking recently, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom, said the name was designed to avoid inaccuracy and destigmatise China and Chinese people in relation to the virus.

“Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatising,” he said. “It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks.” The new name was agreed by WHO in conjunction with the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said the task force was set up in preparation for the unlikely but probable major outbreak of the disease in the country which would require a multi-sectoral inter-governmental approach as advised by the WHO similar to that adopted for the HIV epidemic in the last two decades.

He said the task force is expected to deliver within a maximum period of six months. After all, like Adhanom said: ‘If we invest now in rational and evidence-based interventions, we have a realistic chance of stopping the COVID-19 outbreak. If we don’t, we could have far more cases — and far higher costs — on our hands.”

To this end, the Buhari-led administration can be said to have acted apt and appropriately mainly because of the many impacts of the coronavirus on countries, especially on the socio-economic spheres. The coronavirus outbreak has been attributed to several instances of supply shortages, stemming from: globally increased usage of equipment to fight the outbreaks, panic buying and disruption to factory and logistic operations.

Several countries including the United States of America witnessed panic buying that led to shelves being cleared of grocery essentials such as food, toilet paper and bottled water, inducing supply shortages. The technology industry in particular has been warning about delays to shipments of electronic goods.

According to Tedros Adhanom, the demand for personal protection equipment has risen 100-fold and this demand has led to the increase in prices up to 20 times the normal price and also induced delays on the supply of medical items for four to six months. This has also caused a shortage of personal protective equipment worldwide, with the WHO warning that this will endanger health.

Some economists have forecast that markets will remain volatile until a clearer image emerges on potential outcomes. Some analysts have estimated that the economic fallout of the epidemic on global growth could surpass that of the SARS outbreak. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reportedly scrambled after a steep decline in oil prices due to lower demand from China.

Global Stock markets fell due to a significant rise in the number of COVID-19 cases outside mainland China. On February 28, due to mounting worries about the coronavirus outbreak, various US stock indexes including the NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500 Index, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted their sharpest falls since 2008, with the Dow falling 1,191 points, the largest one-day drop since the financial crisis of 2007–08.

Tourism, which Nigeria hopes to soon capitalise on, is one of the worst affected sectors. As a consequence, numerous airlines have cancelled flights due to lower demand. A number of events involving large crowds were cancelled by national and regional governments, with some international private companies also independently closing their shops and tourist attractions around the globe.

Saudi Arabia has temporarily banned foreigners from entering Mecca and Medina, two of Islam’s holiest pilgrimage sites, to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Kingdom.

Another recent, and rapidly accelerating fallout of the disease is the cancellation of major events including international music festivals and concerts, technology conferences, fashion shows and sports.

There is no doubt, the coronavirus is extremely dangerous and it can reasonably be suspected that the danger is currently being underplayed by the world medical community to minimise panic as the world prepares for the worst. It is, therefore, in this light that the effort of the Buhari-led administration should be appreciated and supported by Nigerians in order to contain its spread.

Be role models to younger generation

Rightly, President Muhammadu Buhari, this week, hailed achievements of Nigerian women in different fields of endeavour. To the women, the president said: Remain steadfast in your chosen vocations and be role models to the younger generation.

The president gave the deserved commendation during an audience with the President of Medical Women’s International Association, Dr Eleanor Nwadinobi.

He congratulated Nigerian women for breaking new grounds in the medical field. Specifically, the president said he is delighted to welcome Dr Nwadinobi, who is the first Nigerian woman to be elected as president of the association in its 100 years of existence.

“I am also proud to see and hear about the great achievements of Dr Nwadinobi,” he said. “The story of her career and what she has been able to accomplish thus far is commendable and must be celebrated. I …congratulate you, Dr Nwadinobi, and all your colleagues on your successes as I pray for many more years of accomplishments.”

Fortunately, this visit occurred as the world celebrate the day of the women with the president recalling that recently, the world remembered the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women universally and, therefore, asked “Dr Nwadinobi and all members of the Medical Women’s International Association to continue to be role models for our younger sisters and daughters.”

The International Women’s Day is held on March 8 every year. It’s a day when we celebrate the amazing social, cultural, economic and political achievements of women – while also campaigning for greater progress towards gender equality.

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been celebrated since the early 1900s. Although we’ve made great progress since then, the problem of gender inequality still persists around the world.

The UN estimates that, globally, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, for work of equal value. Despite comprising over half the population, women occupy less than 23% of parliamentary seats globally. And in many countries women still suffer disproportionately from poverty, lack of education, and lack of access to health-care.

This year’s official theme of IWD #BeBoldForChange, encourages men and women everywhere to take groundbreaking steps for gender equality.

The theme is likely to resonate with the millions of women who have taken to the streets in political marches this year. March 8 is a great opportunity for women to stand up, speak out, and be heard.

And, like the president said, with the right encouragement, support and guidance, the womenfolk can equal the achievements of men and our women in Nigeria, will, hopefully, equal the achievements of “other women elsewhere,’’ particularly in the developed world.

Gladly, globally, recent years have seen a huge increase in the number of businesses around the world celebrating IWD mainly because there is growing recognition that women’s rights affect us all, and that we need to strive for more female representation at all levels of business and human endeavours.

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